These Eyes
by smbue
Summary: Not everything is as it seems. It depends on the view through one's eyes. Stephanie Bowers expected a short visit with Mr. Takagi at the Nakatomi Christmas party, but this young girl gets more than she wanted.
1. Chapter One: Party Crashers

**CHAPTER ONE: PARTY CRASHERS**

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except for Stephanie Bowers.

Stephanie had dressed up for the first time in her life for this occasion. It was the Nakatomi Corporation Christmas party and Stephanie was invited in her father's place. Mr. Bowers had recently deceased, which was as devastating to his boss as it was to his daughter. He had been working for Mr. Takagi for about 3 years and was one of the most loyal employees he had ever seen. He had died in a brutal car accident, but that was already a few months ago. Stephanie's outfit tonight was from Mr. Takagi himself, which she gratefully accepted. She wore a light-blue silk dress that matched her attentive eyes and was decorated with pearl-white flowers with a matching white purse. Her blonde hair was tied into a clean bun with a few strands of hair falling down the side of her fair face. She was very self-conscious and would rather be at home reading or practising the piano, but tonight was for her dad.

The room was noisy and filled with supposedly respectable people getting drunk. Some were even fooling around in the offices that were clearly seen from the floor above. Close to the middle of the room was a vast waterfall in which crystal-clear water trickled into a large pond. Pink and yellow water lilies bobbed up and down in the water while lush greenery decorated the edges. The fresh scent entered her lungs. Large frosted Christmas trees that reached towards the ceilings and many holiday decorations were hung on the walls and railings of staircases. The Japanese had good taste, although the music presently being played was a little irritating. If there was piano instead of whiny violins, it would have been a beautiful song.

"Miss Stephanie!" An older Japanese man came walking towards her with a formal smile on his face.

"Mr. Takagi," she replied as she straightened herself up. The grip on her small, white purse tightened as anxiousness set in.

"It's nice to see you again. How are you doing?" He offered his hand gently and she shook it.

"Fine. Thanks to you, I now have my own apartment that I'll be staying in until I get into university."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. How about high school?"

"I graduated last year. I went to a private one where I was able to take all the courses I need in one and a half years."

"You really are bright for a sixteen-year-old. And quite beautiful at that." Takagi gestured at her clothing.

"Thank you, but it's only because of the gorgeous dress you gave me." Stephanie rubbed her hands together nervously.

"I don't think so, my dear. It is the woman that makes the dress, not the dress that makes the woman." His smile turned from formal to warm and Stephanie felt more at ease.

"Thank you, sir." She watched him give a friendly nod and he joined the other guests.

A ding reached her ears and Stephanie turned to see an elevator opening on the other side of the room. A dark-haired man stepped out from the metal box, looking uninterested in the mighty scene before him. He seemed to be looking for someone. She watched him wade through the crowd. A half-drunk man grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"Hey! Merry Christmas!" the man exclaimed and ran off. Stephanie stifled her giggle as the man wiped his cheek and muttered something. Soon the man disappeared inside an office with Mr. Takagi and she returned to gazing around the room. She had talked to Mr. Takagi and there was nothing here to keep her entertained in this room any longer so she decided to go visit her father's old office on another floor. She prepared herself for walking into the boisterous mob to get to the elevators. The employees that recognised her as Bowers' daughter either tried to avoid eye contact to evade awkwardness or they gave her sympathetic looks. It made her clench her teeth in frustration, but she kept on walking with a dignified face. Through the last of the crowd, she could see her goal and she was able to breathe again. But as she reached the silver doors, they opened, revealing several men with large guns. Stephanie froze as a hand reached out and covered her mouth. A man wearing a stylish suit stepped towards her, smiling from behind his neat, small beard.

"Don't want to ruin the surprise now, do we?" His voice was as dark and deep as his eyes and held a mild German accent. She recognised him at once: Hans Gruber. She had seen him on the television an awful lot, although she doubted if anyone else did. He smirked and she felt panic rush through her. Stephanie wanted to scream, to alert everyone, but she couldn't even muster a squeak. She felt like she was going to die from her heart beating so fast. Another set of arms quickly grabbed her and restricted her movements to just squirming, but she soon even gave that up.

The men filed out of the elevator, raised their guns in the air and began shooting the ceiling. Pandemonium broke out. Women screamed and ducked behind their male companions or ran off to seclude themselves to a room, but the offenders grabbed them and shoved them into the middle of the room. The couple that had been fooling around was now being dragged out from their private show. Soon, all the guests were grouped near the waterfall. All except for Stephanie, who was still in the arms of a burly, blonde man with glasses.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The bearded man gently called out. "Ladies and gentlemen." He took a step forward as the noise was silenced. "Due to the Nakatomi Corporation's legacy of greed around the globe, they're about to be taught a lesson in the real use of power. You will be witnesses. Now – where is Mr. Takagi?" His dark gaze drifted across the crowd, stopping at every older Asian man. Tension pursued his deadly question until a throat being nervously cleared broke it.

"I am Takagi." The appropriate man stepped in front of him calmly but reluctant. Hans' threatening face turned into a warm smile.

"How do you do?" He took Takagi's hand and firmly shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you." His henchmen grabbed Takagi by the arms and forced him to the elevator.

"What about this one?" Stephanie was shoved forth by her captor.

"Leave her here with the others." He quickly looked her up and down with a half-interested stare. Stephanie's wide eyes turned to Takagi. He gave her a comforting, but small smile and nodded. Unfortunately, the man saw this. "Or better yet, take her with us. She may be useful." He did not smirk this time; he only made his way back onto the elevator while two of his blonde followers shoved Stephanie and Mr. Takagi in as well.

Once in the refuge of the moving elevator, Hans began to hum to himself. Stephanie couldn't help but cock a brow behind his back and her fear unexpectedly diminished. One of the blonde henchmen noticed and his grip on her arm tightened as a warning. Her eyes hissed at him in agitation, but he only sneered at her.

"Nice suit," Hans said to Takagi. "John Phillips, London. I have two myself." Stephanie saw Takagi flinch at such an odd comment. The door opened and he quickly walked out. Stephanie took a peek at the floor they were now on and recognised it as one of the upper floors. The man was still humming, but he seemed more intrigued at the models that they passed. He would pause for a moment, let his finger trail the plastic building and then continue onwards until he reached a tall model of a tower.

"And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer." He chuckled as he observed the model. "Benefits of a classical education." Stephanie furrowed her brows. This had to be one of the strangest, yet sophisticated terrorists out there, she guessed. Both she and Takagi watched him as he walked over to an even larger model and looked over it in awe.

"Oh that's beautiful. I always enjoyed making models when I was a boy, the exactness to every conceivable detail. It's beautiful."

"Is this what this is about?" Takagi's asked as they approached the model. "Our project in Indonesia? Contrary to what you people think, we are there to develop that country, not exploit it."

"I believe you. I read the article in _Forbes_."

Stephanie knew that this was only a businessman's conversation so she let her mind wander. The room they were in was large and elegant. The walls and floors were made of shiny, black tiles and Japanese ornaments hung at every wall. She noticed Takagi was now walking on his own without help from any of the henchmen, but when she tried to shake off the clutch of the terrorist he only gripped her harder. Her feelings for this guy became more spiteful. He had long, blonde hair and a constant grumpy face. Gruber reached out to Takagi's shoulder and began to lead him into another room through glass doors. Stephanie was pushed forward.

"Hey, watch it," she barked, almost tripping over her dress.

"Mr. Takagi, I could talk about industrialisation and men's fashion all day, but I am afraid work must intrude and my associate here has some questions for you. Sort of fill-in-the-blanks questions, actually." He opened the glass door and they stepped inside.

The next room was smaller, but still as cultured. Gorgeous tables were lined up aesthetically in the middle of the room. There was a dark man already waiting at a small computer built into one of them. One of the henchmen sat next to him, leaving the one with the glasses to watch over Stephanie. Takagi stood his ground and waited for the leader to take his seat. Once he did, he gestured for Takagi to look at the computer screen. Stephanie could not see it, but she had an idea of what it displayed.

"I don't have that code," Takagi exclaimed. "You broke in here to access our computer? Any information you could get, when they wake up in Tokyo, they'll change it. You won't be able to blackmail our executives, threaten our pro –"

"Sit down!" Hans snapped, his eyes turning dangerous again. Takagi obeyed and gradually sat down in the chair facing Hans.

"Mr. Takagi, I'm really not interested in your computer." He leaned forward slightly. "But I need the code key because I _am_ interested in the six hundred million dollars in negotiable bearer bonds that you have locked in your vault. And the computer controls the vault."

"You want money? What kind of terrorists are you?" Takagi's eyes flickered to Stephanie to make sure she was all right. A soft laugh filled the room.

"Who said we were terrorists?" Hans' laughing stopped and his face grew stern. He pulled out a silver pistol from within his coat and began to unscrew the silencer on it. Stephanie's breath hitched and her heart began to pound quickly again.

"The code, please." Hans neatly placed the silencer on the table. Stephanie could see the shine of sweat that was building on Takagi's forehead.

"It's useless to you. There are seven safeguards on our vault and the code key's only one of them. You'll never get it open."

"Then there's no reason not to tell it to us." He rested the gun on the table, his hand remaining menacingly on it.

"I told you," the man by the computer muttered.

"It's not over yet," the blonde next to him replied. Hans looked over at them with a look that quickly shut them up.

"That's a very nice suit, Mr. Takagi. It'd be a shame to ruin it." He turned back to Takagi.

"I don't know it. I'm telling you! Get on a jet to Tokyo and ask the chairman. I'm telling you. You're just going to have to kill me."

"Stop!" Stephanie cried out, her voice cracking.

"Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten you were here." Hans stood up and walked over to her. His eyes bore right into hers as he towered over her, but she felt courage swell up in her.

"I know who you are, Mr. Hans Gruber," she whispered only to him. He smiled and gently took her arm.

"It is highly improper to know someone's name without introducing yours," he spoke into her ear. She shivered, but did not feel threatened.

"Stephanie Bowers." She did not care if he knew her name. It was not like it would be much use to him.

"Now, Miss Bowers, how close are you to Mr. Takagi?" He sat her in his chair, his gun in his hand.

"I hardly know him," she quietly lied. Hans raised a brow suspiciously.

"Oh, really?" He raised his gun to her temple.

"Leave her alone! She's just a girl. She's gone through enough already." Takagi was visibly shaking now. Stephanie closed her eyes, feeling slight tears mount in her eyes.

"See, I have ways to catch lies, Miss Bowers. Now, give me the code." His hand slid to Stephanie's shoulder, gripping it firmly as if to calm her. This delicate gesture confused her further, but she was more focused on the gun at her head.

"I don't have it! Kill me instead!" Takagi desperately bellowed.

"Okay." A monstrous bang shot out and Takagi fell to the floor.

"No!" Stephanie cried. She clasped her hand to her mouth and looked away, afraid that the gory sight before her might force her to be sick.

"We'll do it the hard way. Tony, see if you can dispose of that. Karl, better check on Heinrich's work," Hans said casually to his men. The blonde handed over some paper bills to the other, apparently losing a bet. Stephanie shut her eyes, her hands violently shaking from shock. She didn't think he would actually kill anyone.

A sound came from outside the room, getting all of their attention. The two blondes ran out of the room after the noise and began to check all the other rooms for the perpetrator. Hans quickly grabbed Stephanie and half-dragged her into the room they first entered.

"Nothing," one of his men said as he put away his pistol.

"See to Heinrich," Hans ordered, the last henchman coming up behind him with a coat hung over his shoulder indifferently. "Now… you can _break_ the code?"

"You didn't bring me along for my charming personality," the henchman replied. Hans smiled at the man's wit and walked back to the elevators, pulling the recovering girl behind him.

The metal doors closed behind them once they were inside the metal box. At the moment, it felt more like a prison than an elevator to Stephanie. She caught the black henchman's eye. He was rather cute looking and didn't seem the criminal type at all; maybe more of a bookworm or techie.

"May I ask why this girl is still alive?" he asked, folding his hands playfully.

"Have patients, Theo. We are not here to kill people; only if they get in our way." Hans jerked Stephanie closer to him so his face was near hers. "And she won't be a problem, will she?" Stephanie looked at the man who had murdered the closest thing she had to family, but could not meet his cold eyes. The doors opened and they walked out into a new area: the vault room.

"Thirty minutes to break the code, two and a half hours for the five mechanicals at the minimum. The seventh lock, however, is out of my hands." Theo slid a stolen company card over an electric lock and a wall began to move slowly. Hans released Stephanie, trusting her not to be stupid enough to try and pull anything, and walked over further to get a better view of the now-exposed silver vault. He crossed his arms and stared hard at it, as if it would merely open by intensely gazing at it. They were only a few locks away from becoming richer than rich. Hans' trance broke and he became aware of the lingering silence. He turned back to his fellow crook.

"I'm sorry," Hans said, encouraging Theo to continue.

'The seventh lock- the electromagnetic seal. You do understand the circuits cannot be cut locally." There was tender worry in his voice and on his face.

"Trust me." Hans smiled assuredly and reclaimed control over Stephanie. He brought her down a hall that took them to a long staircase.

"Down you go, Miss Bowers," he commanded nonchalantly. Stephanie peeked down to see where it led and gave no objection. They were going back to the others.


	2. Chapter Two: Rooftop Chase

**CHAPTER TWO: ROOFTOP CHASE**

Stephanie descended the stairs slowly, being careful not to trip on her long dress. It looked to be a painful fall and one of the last things she wanted was to look like an idiot in a hostage situation. The radio in Hans' hand buzzed and a static voice came on.

"We've got a fire alarm," it spoke. Hans stopped and tugged on the back of Stephanie's dress for her to halt.

"Call 911. Give them the guard's name and the building code number, and cancel the alarm. Then disable the system." Hans prodded her again and they continued on their journey down. Tony, the blonde with the glasses, was overlooking the scene from a balcony on the stairs. Hans was about to pass him, but he hesitated.

"On what floor did the alarm go off?"

"Thirty-two." The radio came alive again. Hans looked at Tony and he nodded, understanding without even needing to be asked. The blonde took off towards the elevators. By now, Stephanie was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for further instructions. She examined the crowd. They were still in shock and no one dared to talk.

"Thank you, Bowers. You may join the others now." Hans walked past her, not in the least bit concerned with the whimpering throng. Stephanie let out a huge sigh and had to struggle to hold back from running into the crowd. It felt marvellous to be out of Hans' ominous reach.

"Honey, are you all right?" A woman with brown, curly hair outstretched her hand to her and grabbed her shoulder. Stephanie quickly nodded, but she closed her eyes for a quick minute. She was shaking uncontrollably and her stomach was madly churning, a terrible feeling that she could not shake. The lady led her to the edge of the waterfall and made her sit down on some smooth rocks.

"What's your name?" The lady crouched to her level.

"Stephanie Bowers," she breathed.

"Well Stephanie, I'm Holly Gennero. Everything's going to be all right, okay?" The girl nodded again and Holly sat beside her. The lady looked at the waterfall to hide the fear in her eyes.

"Waterfalls are popular in Japan. They're said to cause serenity and calmness of the mind and soul." Stephanie's spoke quietly. Maybe if she were to change the topic her illness would then fade.

"Really? Are you familiar with the Japanese culture?" Holly looked at her with a somewhat surprised look on her face.

"Yes. I was educated to be a well-cultured woman so when it came time for me to have my own business, there would be less culture barriers." Holly opened her mouth to reply, but she stopped when she noticed Stephanie's eyes were moving with interest. She followed her gaze to the man in charge across the room. Holly looked back at Stephanie. She was no longer shaking and colour had returned to her face. Her eyes did not hold fright, but instead engrossment.

Stephanie's hands went to the white purse at her side. She felt the outside of it and could feel the one object that it contained. A pocket knife. She never went anywhere alone without it. She was sick of waiting here, tired of cowering. Her terror was now completely gone and it was filled with the need of doing something. But ultimately, gun beat knife so she would have to wait for the perfect opportunity to use it.

"Are you all right?" Miss Gennero finally asked.

"Mhmm," Stephanie turned her head to her, but her eyes were still locked on the leader. Hans was now making his way to sit on a ledge in front of them. His face was blank and he stared out at them. He sat down and crossed his legs casually.

"I wanted this to be professional, efficient and co-operative. Not a lot to ask." He exhaled, almost frustrated. "Alas, Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life." Miss Gennero jumped and her hand caught her mouth.

"We can go anyway you want it," he continued. "You can walk out of here or be carried out, but have no illusions- we are in charge."

A ding echoed through the room and the elevator door opened. A woman near the front of the room screamed as she saw what was inside. The leader of the terrorists jumped up and began to saunter over to the elevator. Curious hostages began to try and push forward, but the men with the guns kept them back. Stephanie stood up and pushed her way to the front. On her tiptoes, she could see inside and inside was Tony, only dead. He was strapped to a chair, covered in blood and wearing a red Santa hat. Red lettering was written across his grey sweater, but Stephanie could not make out the letters from such a distance.

"Now I have a machine gun," Hans read out loud. "Ho ho ho…" He turned to his henchman beside him and began to speak in German. Alarmingly, his voice was not panicked or angry. It still kept its smooth calmness. He returned to the crowd and two of his men followed him out of the room. Now there was only one longhaired terrorist left within the elevator.

"Here's my chance," Stephanie whispered to herself. She slipped past the crowd and hid behind a large, abstract statue. The man's back was turned to her. She took a deep breath and pulled out her knife. If she were to slit his throat, then he would have no chance of turning around to shoot her. She rounded the corner and stepped into the elevator. Miss Gennero watched in horror, trying not to scream out. Stephanie's grasp on the hilt of the knife tightened and she took one last breath. The knife plunged deep into the man's throat and with a great slash, blood began to spew onto the ground. His scratchy screams rang out into the room and the crowd began to make more noise.

"Shit!" Stephanie closed the elevator doors before any of the others could see her. The man now lay on the floor, motionless. "Oh goodness."

"Hey!" A raspy voice came from up above and startled her. She looked up and saw chestnut eyes staring out of a vent at her.

"Are you one of them?" She pressed herself against the cold, metal interior.

"No." The vent was removed and a hand hung down to her. "Grab my hand." She wavered. What if he was lying? What if he really was one of the terrorists and just witnessed her murdering his partner and now wanted revenge? Stephanie did not really have much of a choice. She would probably die anyway if they found her in the elevator, covered in the man's blood.

The inside of the elevator shaft was dark and chilly, much like a cave.

"What are you doing killing terrorists? You could have gotten killed!" The man that pulled her up nagged at her. It was the same man that she had earlier watched as he arrived to the party, only he had stripped off his dress shirt and shoes.

"Listen," she leaned in close, "I am not going to just stand there while my father's old company is robbed. I would rather die." Her eyes held a certain seriousness that made the man back down a little.

"As long as you know what you're doing," he sighed.

"They killed Mr. Takagi."

"I know. I saw it."

"You were that sound outside the room? Well, aren't you stealthy," Stephanie murmured sarcastically, but the man only grinned in reply.

Stephanie noticed something written on his arm in black marker. It looked like a list.

"What's that?"

"A list of the terrorist's names." He held his arm out to her briefly. At the top of the list was Hans. Stephanie chuckled, impressed.

"What are you, a cop?"

"Yep. From New York." He looked around, possibly trying to figure out a plan on how to get out of there.

"Ah, well, I'm Stephanie Bowers." She held out her hand, ignoring the feeling that it was the wrong time for formal introductions.

"John McClane." He returned the shake concisely. The elevator shook and they began to ascend as the neighboring elevator went down. The elevator was speeding up without stopping, and if it didn't stop soon, the shaft's ceiling would surely crush them. At the last second, John shoved Stephanie's head down and ducked himself. The elevator hit a metal barrier, leaving barely enough space to breathe. Stephanie pushed at John to move so that they could get out of this tiny space. He found a railing perpendicular to the shaft and pulled himself onto a narrow platform.

"Here!" The brawny officer outstretched his hand and helped his new comrade up.

"Glad that's over with." Stephanie wiped her forehead and looked down at the long fall down the shaft.

"Can I see that knife?" John asked and Stephanie gave it to him without hesitation. John crouched down to the level of her knees and began to tear the dress with the silver knife.

"What are you doing?" Stephanie shouted.

"It's going to be a pain in the ass to have this long of a dress. It'll restrict your movement." He finished tearing off the rest of it to about just above her knee. He stood back up and handed her back her small knife.

"Thanks." She smiled faintly and then followed him to the end of a platform where a dull, metal door led back into the main building. Fortunately, it wasn't locked and easily opened. Once through, they climbed a series of metal staircases and reached the building's roof. John stopped.

"You know how to handle a gun?" he asked, eyeing her.

"I've been to the shooting range a couple of times with my dad." Stephanie shrugged. John smiled and handed her his own pistol.

"Just need to pull the trigger." He winked, holding a machine gun in his own hands.

On the roof, it was colder than in the elevator shaft. The sky had already become dark with night, but a blinking light gave enough light for them to see. John pulled out a radio similar to Hans', which Stephanie had not noticed before.

"Mayday. Mayday, anyone copying channel nine. Terrorists have seized the Nakatomi Building and are holding at least thirty people hostage," he spoke into it clearly and with haste. "Unknown amount of terrorists – six or more armed with automatic weapons at Nakatomi Plaza. Somebody answer me goddamn it!" A moment of silence returned before a woman's voice came on the radio.

"Attention, whoever you are, this channel is reserved for emergency calls only."

"No fucking shit, lady! Does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza?" John yelled back. "They have already killed one hostage. They are fortifying their positions while you're jerking me on the radio!"

John was now violently pacing.

"Sir, I've already told you. This is a reserved channel. If this is an emergency call, dial 911 on your telephone. Otherwise, I'll have to report this as an FCC violation."

"Fine! Come the fuck down and arrest me, just send the police now!"

A shot bounced off a nearby railing and Stephanie screamed out in surprise.

"Get cover!" John yelled and pulled her over behind a little shed. More fire followed, obviously coming from other machine guns.

"Oh shit," Stephanie muttered to herself. John grabbed her by the arm and ran down the stairs opposite of the shooting.

"Keep close to me!" he shouted over his shoulder. Stephanie tried to get a look at where the shooters were so she could possibly fire back, but she could spot anyone. They made it to another shed and took refuge behind it. Someone from a level above continued to fire at them.

"I think there's a door leading inside over there," Stephanie said through her rapid panting. "You go inside, I'll stay here. It'll be more efficient for us to split up."

John stared at her as he regained his breath and then nodded in agreement.

"Be careful," she whispered.

"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself." He reloaded his machine gun, and with one last glance at Stephanie, he darted across the tight space between the shed and the door and slammed the door open. Stephanie waited until her new friend disappeared inside before sliding down onto the ground. It would be a matter of minutes before they found her. She wondered if they would even suspected her of killing that one guy. Her eyes drifted down to her blood-splattered dress.

"Great," she growled. Stephanie could hear quick footsteps coming closer. Two men noticed her, one being the blonde thug that Stephanie disliked most.

"Get her to Hans. I'll go after the other one." His face was distorted with fury, his voice thick with loathing. His contemporary reached out, seized her gun and forced her up with a vicious yank. Stephanie wanted to jerk from his grasp and kick him where it hurt, but he now had two guns and she had no chance. She was already on a very thin line.

"Look who we found on the roof."

Stephanie was pushed by the trigger-happy man and fell down onto all fours. Hans had taken over Miss Gennero's office and was currently set up at her walnut desk. She slowly looked up into his eyes. She knew he had taken notice of her bloody clothing and purse.

"I take it you were the one that killed Franco? I thought I made it clear to you that you were not to be a problem." Hans' face showed little care in the man's loss of life. He was just another number to him. His curious eyes trailed from her pale and soft face to where her baby-blue dress drooped to expose some of her chest. Stephanie caught his gaze and sprung up straight, her face flushing red.

"Well, seeing as how we can't leave you alone with the others, you'll now be under my watch at all times." He waved dismissively at the other man.

"Lucky me," she mumbled as she got to her feet. Her white, high-heeled shoes were starting to hurt her feet and she slipped them off before she got any blisters. And if she needed to run she could.

"Take a seat." Hans smiled and gestured to any of the three beige chairs in front of the desk. Stephanie cautiously sat in the one that was a good distance away from the ringleader as she saw a pistol peeking out from behind the lamp in front of him. The bearded man leaned forward and was about to say something, but his radio cut him off. A voice rang out, recognizable as the man in pursuit of John.

"Karl?" Hans' hands dashed for the radio.

"He's in the elevator shaft."

"He's still alive," Stephanie whispered to herself and a grin spread on her face.

"Perfect. The elevators are locked off. He can't escape. Just shut him in and come back down." Hans' voice was impatient and brisk. "Karl, the police are probably on their way already. Karl?"

There came no reply from his radio and Hans frowned.

"I can stall them but not if they hear gunshots. If you lock him in he'll be neutralized."

There still came no reply, just a quick click, meaning that Karl had turned off his radio.

"That idiot's going to blow the whole operation," Hans snarled.

"Fine by me." Stephanie leaned back in the cushy chair. She had a feeling she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.


	3. Chapter Three: Pinned

**CHAPTER THREE: PINNED**

Hans glared at Stephanie for a moment, but his eyes turned from brief anger to interest.

"What is a girl like you doing alone at a business Christmas party? Or, I assume you are alone?" He raised his brows at her in inquisition.

Stephanie hesitated for a moment, debating on whether she wanted to engage in a conversation with a murderous thief. She concluded it wouldn't cause any harm and she had time to waste anyway.

"I was invited. My father worked here before he died and Mr. Takagi thought of it as a friendly gesture." Her voice was quiet at the mention of the dead man's name. He had been a very kind gentleman who was very relaxed with his employees, but strict at the same time, making him a very good businessman. The world had lost one of its good people.

"Ah," Hans nodded, "is that why you two were so familiar with each other?"

"I would try and stop someone from killing anyone any day. Life is too precious for a person to take it away." Stephanie prayed her voice would not quiver with suppressed tears as she thought of her late parents. They had both died in accidents, one being of childbirth implications and the other of a drunk driver. Both could have been avoidable, but that is not how fate wanted it. Lady Fate wanted Stephanie to be alone and helpless, and now apparently frightened as well as seeing she was now a hostage.

"That's very brave of you," he grinned, his fervent, brown eyes not turning away from her, "or very foolish."

"I don't believe it is foolish to help a fellow man." Stephanie's eyes narrowed with agitation. She had become annoyed with this sudden turn of conversation and quickly wanted to end it. Her wish was granted when Hans noticed the noise of a car from outside. He gazed through the blinds and spotted a black and white cop car circling in front of the building. Hans grabbed his stocky radio and spoke into it.

"Eddie?"

"I had a feeling you'd be calling," came a reply. It was the same voice as the one that notified Hans of the fore alarm earlier. "I'll take care of it."

"Good." Hans placed his radio back onto the wooden desk, but he did not remove himself from the window. He continued to peer down at the cop car.

The policeman, a plump, black man, got out of his vehicle and cautiously strolled into the building. After a few intense minutes of waiting, the man came back out and began to back out of his parking spot. Then, the most unexpected thing happened. A body dropped from a floor above them and landed on the hood of the cop car. From the way that it limply fell, Hans guessed the man to already be dead. Gunfire roared into the night as the terrorists shot at the policeman to stop him from leaving now that he was alerted. The cop car rushed backwards in panic and over a barrier, dropping out of sight. Hans sighed, but he had expected police involvement sooner or later.

"That can't be good," Stephanie remarked playfully as she listened to the cracking of guns. Hans simply ignored her.

"Eddie, we've blown our cover. Time to stop playing nice guard," Hans articulated. Sirens could be heard from a distance and, by the speed of which they were growing louder, they were speeding down the roads to back up their fellow police officer. The closest terrorists ran into the office, alarmed by the sirens and approaching police.

"All of you relax." Hans sat down, unnerved by the sudden turn of events. "This is a matter of inconvenient timing, that's all. Police action was inevitable and, as it happens, necessary."

Karl sat down in one of the chairs next to Stephanie, looking as though he was about to throw a tantrum from being interrupted from killing John McClane. A wave of discomfort washed over Stephanie and she straightened up in her own chair, trying to look as if she had found the plastic plant beside Hans' desk to be very engaging.

"So let them fumble about outside and stay calm. This is simply the beginning," Hans rendered. Static buzzed from his radio and he immediately grabbed it.

"I thought I told all of you I want radio silence until further notice?" Hans snapped sharply.

"I'm sorry Hans, I didn't get that message," the radio mocked. "You should have put it on the bulletin board. Since I waxed Tony and Heinrich and his friend here, I figured you and Karl might be a little lonely so I wanted to give you a call."

Stephanie laughed. She was amazed that John was still alive. He may have been a cop, but he was not invincible, or so she thought. Hans looked speechless and for a few minutes no one said a word.

"That's very kind of you," Hans finally spoke into the radio. "I assume you are our mystery party crasher. You are most troublesome for a security guard."

A noise like a buzzer answered the puzzled man.

"Sorry, Hans. Wrong guess. Would you like to go for Double Jeopardy, where the scores could really change?"

"I love this guy," Stephanie whispered to Karl, but she shut up once he scowled at her.

"Who are you then?"

"Just a fly in the ointment, Hans. The monkey in the wrench, the pain in the ass. Is Stephanie with you?"

Stephanie perked up at her name. Hans glanced at her and then back at the radio. He held it out for her to speak to him.

"Yeah, I'm here," she spoke, loud enough for him to hear her.

Hans turned off his radio for a moment so that there was no chance of John hearing what he would say next.

"Check on all the others. Don't use the radio. See if he's lying about Heinrich and find out who else is missing." Karl sprung up at his orders and left the room, the atmosphere becoming a little less strained. Hans turned back to his radio.

"Mr. Mystery Guest, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here unless you want to open the front door for me."

"No, I'm afraid not, but you have me at a loss. You know my name, but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne, Rambo, Marshal Dillon?"

"I was always kind of partial to Roy Rogers, actually. I really like those sequinned shirts."

"Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?" Hans drawled.

"Yipee-kai-yay, motherfucker," John taunted. The conversation seemed to have ended, leaving Hans very confused and thoughtful.

"I see you have met your match, Mr. Gruber," Stephanie spoke out proudly.

"You know him, don't you? Who is he?" His eyes flickered to her.

"Not saying," she whispered derisively.

Karl burst into the room before Hans could threaten her to give him the information he wanted.

"He wasn't lying. Marco and Heinrich are both dead and Heinrich's bag is missing."

"Well, he had the detonator." Hans at last showed concern. His plan had finally been altered. Hans typed in a different frequency on his radio with briskness.

"Theo," Hans called out to the chunky device.

"Yo!" Theo had to shout over the loud background noise. It sounded like he was drilling.

"We may have some problems. How's your schedule?"

"Three down. Four to go."

"Then don't waste time talking to me," Hans muttered. Stephanie rolled her eyes at his haughty attitude.

"This is Sergeant Al Powell of the LA Police Department. If the person who radioed for help on this channel can hear me, acknowledge this transmission. I say again, if the person who radioed for help on this channel can hear me, acknowledge this transmission," the radio suddenly spoke out, causing more puzzled looks from Hans. He did not reply. However, another man did.

"I read you, Powell. You the guy in the car?" John's voice answered.

"What's left of him. Can you identify yourself?"

At this, Hans' back straightened with interest.

"No, not now. Maybe later."

Hans hunched back over, disappointed.

"Listen fast, this is a party line and the neighbour's got itchy trigger fingers. All right here's the deal: you got 30 or so hostages on the thirtieth floor. The leader's name is Hans-"

"We have to find him and shut him up. He's telling them everything!" the man that had dragged Stephanie to Hans hissed.

"Let him. I'm waiting for the FBI to arrive. Until then, he can waste as much time as he likes, but we must find the bag, Fritz. We must have the detonators," Hans spoke as he collected a notebook and pen.

The man left in a hurry, too worried to not do anything. John continued to catch the police up with recent information about who they were dealing with.

"Going to write in your diary, Mr. Gruber?" Stephanie smirked slightly. "Seems a bad time to be doing that or will you not remember this later and you have to write it all down now?"

Hans ignored her, too enveloped in his note taking to pay her any attention. She heard John's voice die from the radio and she sat back in her chair, closing her eyes. Stephanie was quite exhausted from this whole momentous event.

Not two minutes passed before a knock came from the door. Holly Gennero was standing outside the doorframe, accompanied by Fritz. Hans did not look up and she impatiently walked inside. Stephanie turned to see who it was and a smile instantly spread across her face.

"Miss Gennero!" Stephanie called out quietly.

"Stephanie! Thank God, you're all right." She reached out and brushed Stephanie's cheek faintly.

"Is there a point to your intrusion or are you here just to annoy me?" Hans muttered, still not looking up.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" Holly snapped. "Anyway, I have a request."

"What idiot put you in charge?"

"You did when you murdered my boss," Holly replied strongly.

Hans finally looked up to meet her glare.

"Now everybody's looking to me. Personally, I'd pass on the job. I don't enjoy being this close to you."

Hans set down his metallic pen and gave Ms. Gennero his full attention.

"Go on," he said, folding his hands on his lap.

"We have a pregnant woman out there. Relax, she's not due for a couple of weeks but sitting on that rock isn't doing her back any good. So, I would like permission to move her to one of the offices where there's a sofa," Gennero asked with forced politeness.

"No, but I'll have a sofa brought out to you. Good enough?"

"Good enough. And unless you like it messy, I suggest you start bringing us in groups to the bathroom."

"Yes. You're right. It will be done. Was there something else?"

Holly's gaze was aimed to a turned down picture. Her eyes were sad and blazed with longing, but they snapped back to Hans.

"No, thank you." Holly gave one last hopeful pat on Stephanie's arm and walked quickly out of her office, Stephanie's eyes trailing after her.

"Do you know everyone here, Miss Bowers?" Hans weakly grinned at her and continued to write.

"Very funny." Stephanie tried to peek at his book, but she couldn't get a good look from where she was sitting. If she were to move to the seat closest to his desk, then maybe she could see what he was writing. It could possibly help John. Cautiously, Stephanie stood up and moved to the chair centre of Hans' desk. "I only met Miss Gennero tonight."

A beam of white light flooded the office, blinding Stephanie from looking at Hans' book. He suddenly stood up, radio in hand, and leered out the window.

"They'll be coming. Everybody get ready. Theo, you are the eyes now," Hans spoke into the device.

They were coming? Who were _they_? The police? Stephanie rubbed her eyes as the lights died down. It was shocking to hear Hans' voice so relaxed and poised even though there was a whole team of cops closing in on them. A voice cleared itself on the radio.

"Okay guys, listen up. 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except – the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two by two cover formation," Theo spoke, sounding like he was chewing on something.

"Don't be impatient. Just wound them," Hans ordered slyly.

"Whoah! Wait a minute. What have we here gentlemen?" Theo talked more to himself than anyone. "The police have themselves an RV. Southeast corner."

A noisy growling sound filled the night air. Stephanie could only guess by the amusement on Hans' face that he was prepared for this as well. The sound of a small rocket cut through the present noise and an explosion on the ground followed. The terrorists apparently shot a rocket-grenade at the RV.

"Oh my God! The quarterback is toast!" Theo yelled out like a kid watching a harmless football game.

"Hit it again." Hans was now restlessly pacing around the window.

"Hans, you motherfucker! You made your point! Let them pull back!" John screamed furiously over the radio.

"Thank you, Mr. Cowboy. I'll take it under advisement. Hit it again!" He waited for a few moments to let his henchmen reload their ammunition. "Fire."

Another explosion erupted, just as big as the last one. Stephanie saw no point to this. Were they here just to play games with the police? Then came another blast of explosion, but this time it felt like it came from within the building, for the ground below them shook violently. Hans jumped; it surely was not his men's doing.

Stephanie looked behind her and saw that no one was guarding the doorway and Hans was preoccupied with the view of outside on the ground. If Stephanie were to sneak out of the office and make her way to the hostages then she could – she didn't know what she could do, but it would be better than being under the watch of this terrifyingly cunning man.

Very quietly, she rose from her chair and backed away. Hans jerked his head sideways, and she stopped dead, but then realised he was craning his neck to get a better view of something down below. Stephanie continued backwards and was almost out the door until she hit the back of her heel on a potted plant. She held back any vocalisation of her pain, but the sound of the impact was enough to catch Hans' notice.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. Stephanie looked at him blankly for a moment before fleeing from the office. It was much easier to run now that she was barefooted, she just hoped there was nothing sharp in her path. She booked it right into the main area and all the hostages gasped, bewildered that she had escaped. She would have stopped to talk to Holly, but Hans was surprisingly chasing after her.

Stephanie ran up the stairs, almost tripping once, and made it into the model room. She looked around speedily at all the walls, looking for an elevator. Silver glinted at her from across the room and she started to dart towards it, but a powerful hand caught her wrist and flung her into a hard, black wall.

"You are starting to become more trouble than you are worth, Miss Bowers," Hans spoke between heavy pants. It seemed he was not used to doing physical work himself. Stephanie tried to wiggle free from his grasp, but he was too strong.

Now that he had no other distractions, Hans took his first thorough look at Stephanie. Her long, dirty-blonde hair was starting to fall from her once-neat bun, her icy, blue eyes held both fear and fierceness as she glared at him, and her skin, although slightly sweaty and covered in some blood, was smooth and rosy with emotion. He pinned her closer to the wall so there was only a small distance between their bodies.

"I thought you were intelligent enough to stay out of our way, but I am terribly mistaken. You have seen what I am capable of doing –" Hans spoke into her ear, "Murder."

Stephanie shivered as his warm breath caressed her neck. She turned her face away from him indignantly, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"Get off me," Stephanie whispered, too tired from running to shout. She returned to squirming, but as Hans' knee brushed up the inside of her thigh as he tried to stabilize himself, she became petrified. At that moment, Fritz bounded into the room and stopped at the strange sight of them.

"There's some guy that wants to speak with you," Fritz mumbled, his thumb pointing behind him. Hans pulled away from Stephanie, but kept his grip tight around her wrist.

"Tell him to meet me in my office," Hans said as he made his way back down stairs, towing the struggling Stephanie behind him.


	4. Chapter Four: Fool's Gold

**CHAPTER FOUR: FOOL'S GOLD**

Hans returned to the refined office that he was set up in to discover that Karl was waiting for him there. Hans impatiently threw Stephanie back into one of the chairs and sat back behind his desk, avoiding eye contact with the defiant, young blonde. When he felt it was safe, Karl walked up to Hans and leaned over the desk. By the angry look on Karl's face, it had been John that caused the explosion.

"If you'd have listened to me, he'd be neutralised already," Hans growled.

"I don't want neutral. I want dead," Karl said quietly.

"Well, great job you're doing there, buddy," Stephanie scoffed. Karl looked like he was about to turn around and strike her until a knocking at the door interrupted him. All three of them averted their eyes to the doorway.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," said a man with dark-brown hair and a scruffy beard. He looked bigheaded and not frightened at all, but he could not possibly be one of the terrorists since Fritz was eyeing him so carefully. He must have been the man that wanted to speak with Hans.

"What does he want?" snarled Hans. The man chuckled.

"It's not what I want. It's what I can give ya."

Karl turned back to Hans and gave him a suspicious look. He padded where he kept his pistol, but Hans shook his head. Karl removed himself from Hans' desk and took a spot beside Stephanie.

"Oy, let's be straight, okay? It's obvious you're not some dumb schmuck here to snatch a few purses, am I right?" The man walked further into the room, waving his hands around enthusiastically.

"You're very perceptive," Hans mocked lazily. Stephanie couldn't help but let a smile appear on her face.

"I watch _60 Minutes_. I say to myself," the man continued as he stopped before the chairs, "'these guys are professional, they're motivated, they're happening, i.e., they want something,' huh? Now personally I couldn't care less about your politics. Maybe you're pissed off at the camel jockeys, maybe it's the Hebes, Northern Ireland – it's none of my business. I figure you're here to negotiate, am I right?"

"You're amazing. You figured this all out already?" Hans sneered.

The man laughed, missing the ridicule once again.

"Hey, business is business. You use a gun, I use a fountain pen. What's the difference? Let's put it in my terms," he sat down in one of the empty chairs, "You're here on a hostile take-over. You grab us for some greenmail, but you didn't expect some poison pill was going to be running around the building. Am I right? Hans, bubby, I'm your white night. "

"I must have missed _60 Minutes_. What are you saying?" Hans leaned forward, disconcerted.

The man smiled.

"The guy upstairs is fucking things up, huh?" he directed at Karl, who in turn just scowled at him. The man paused before declaring, "I can give him to you."

Stephanie felt like flying out of her seat and punching the man right in his cocky, little face. John was trying to save them all, but this asshole wanted to get him killed! She couldn't stand it. She had to get out of the office before she attacked him.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Stephanie said calmly as she stood up. Hans peered at her and then at Karl. Karl grabbed her by the arm and took her outside. The hostages' murmurs hastily died as Karl and Stephanie passed them. The bathrooms were not too far from the waterfall and directly opposite of the elevators. Stephanie pushed open the white-marble door and stepped inside. She did not hear the door close and she turned to see Karl follow her in.

"You're honestly going to come into the girl's bathroom?" Stephanie lifted a brow at him.

Karl stared at her for a moment, clearly debating whether he should or not, and then left.

The room was dazzlingly with shine and cleanliness; not at all unexpected after seeing the other rooms. Stephanie searched around, looking for any vents to escape through, but there were none and unless she wanted to go down the pipes through the toilets or the sinks (which was obviously impossible) there was no way of getting out of there except the door which she entered. Defeated, Stephanie gazed at her reflection in the huge mirrors over the sinks. She was dirty, messy and tired-looking. She turned the porcelain taps and ran warm water over her arms and face, cleaning away the dirt, sweat and blood that had collected on her skin. Next, Stephanie pulled her hair out of her pathetic bun and let it run down her back, where it stopped just below her shoulders. Re-examining herself in the mirror, Stephanie was now satisfied with her improved appearance and reluctantly walked out of the bathroom.

Karl, who had been guarding the door, grasped her arm and tugged her back towards the office. Just as they were about to reach the waterfall, a gunshot roared through the air, inducing the hostages to scream and panic once more. Stephanie could see Hans step out of the office and hold up is black radio to the screams.

"Do you hear that?" Stephanie heard Hans furiously shout into the radio. "Talk to me! Where are my detonators? Where are they, or shall I shoot another one? Sooner or later, I might get to someone you do care about." Once Hans finished yelling he stormed back into his office and Karl and Stephanie followed him in.

Stephanie immediately closed her eyes, afraid of what she might find. Karl directed her back to her seat and she softly sat down on the easeful chair. The sickening, metallic smell of blood filled her nose and she struggled to keep her composure.

"Karl, take care of that moron," Hans ordered from behind his desk. A thump and a dragging noise conformed that Karl was dragging away a dead body. Once she only heard the breathing of Hans, she opened her eyes, but kept her focus on her hands that lay in her lap.

"Attention, police," Hans spoke into the radio. "Attention, police."

"This is Sergeant Al Powell-" came a brief reply.

"This is deputy chief Dwayne Robinson. Who is this?" the radio continued, although it was a different voice.

"This is Hans Gruber. I assume you realize the futility of direct action against me. We have no wish for further loss of life." His voice was strong and serious and easily commanded attention.

"Well, what is it you do wish for, Mr. Gruber?"

"I have comrades in arms around the world languishing in prison –"

Karl sauntered in and silently sat where the cocky and foolish man had sat moments before.

"The American State Department enjoys rattling its saber for its own ends. Now it can rattle it for me. The following people are to be released from their captors: in Northern Ireland the seven members of the New Provo Front, in Canada the five imprisoned members of _Liberte du Quebec_, in Sri Lanka the nine members of the Asian Dawn."

"Asian Dawn?" whispered Karl.

"I read about them in _Time_ Magazine," Hans quickly said, covering the radio with his shoulder and then returning it to his mouth. "When these revolutionary brothers and sisters are free, the hostages in this building will be taken to the roof and will accompany us in helicopters to the Los Angeles International Airport where they will be given further instructions. You have two hours to comply."

"Do you think they'll even try to do it?" Karl asked.

"Who cares?" Hans chuckled lightly. He typed in a series of buttons on the radio. "Theo, are we on schedule?"

"One more to go. Then it's up to you, and you better be right because it looks like this last one is going to take a miracle," Theo replied as heavy machinery drowned out some of his voice.

"It's Christmas, Theo. It's the time of miracles, so be of good cheer and call me when you hit the last lock." Hans turned to Karl, his face showing great agitation. "Karl, hunt that little shit down and get those detonators."

"Fritz is checking on the explosives." Karl sat up and gripped a machine gun from beside the polished desk.

"I'll check the explosives. You just get the detonators." Hans stood up, snatched Stephanie by the wrist and hauled her after him.

"You know what? I am getting really sick of being dragged everywhere. I'm getting bruises from all this arm-grabbing business," Stephanie hissed at him.

"Well if you had been a good little girl then we wouldn't have to, now would we?" Hans' pace was fast and Stephanie had to almost jog to keep up with him. They took a lengthy staircase and after climbing up 10 floors, they made it to a dark and chilly room just below the roof. A flashlight that was left behind by Heinrich and the others was lying on the ground and Hans picked it up.

"Stay close to me and don't –"

"Do anything. Yeah, yeah." Stephanie waved off Hans' cliché words.

Hans flicked on the flashlight and surveyed the area. There were graffitied metal boxes everywhere, some of which had steam hissing from them. Hans noticed yellow wiring and followed it between two boxes with Stephanie right behind him. He looked up to see the wiring continue on top of the right box and he realized he had to climb up, but with a silver pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other it would be extremely difficult. He glared at Stephanie warningly.

"Hey, do you really think I'm going to take on a full grown man?" Stephanie asked.

"Didn't stop you before," he replied with raised eyebrows.

She merely held his gaze and after a few minutes he gave up. With one last dangerous look, Hans placed his gun and flashlight on a ledge. Using both sides of the boxes as support, he lifted himself up and peered up at nothing but cut wires. He sighed to let out his frustrations and jumped back down and landed in a crouching position. But as soon as he reached solid ground he saw two very dirty, bare feet. He slowly and cautiously looked up to see a man holding a machine gun and Stephanie standing silently beside him.

"Hi there. How you doing?" John smiled. Hans' mouth flew open and started moving with unspoken words. He backed away slowly.

"Please, God. No, you're one of them, aren't you?" Hans began to hysterically sputter with a realistic American accent. "You're one of them! Don't kill me!"

Stephanie's face contorted with confusion.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," John said, buying into Hans' wretched act.

Stephanie opened her mouth to speak, but Hans threw her a dark look that made her shut her mouth at once. She had no idea why he had this much control over her, even with John being the one holding the gun.

"What the fuck are you two doing up here?" John asked, looking around to make sure they were the only ones in this room. "What were you looking for?"

"We managed to get out of there. We were just trying to get up on the roof and signal for help." Hans made his way back in between the two boxes, no doubt trying to get his pistol. "Why don't you come over here? I'll show you."

"Hold it, hold it. Forget the roof. They got people all over it. You want to stay alive, stay with me." John said firmly, making Hans stop. "Come on."

Stephanie cast a pleading look at Hans and he unwillingly followed them back into the building.

"Thank God, you're alive." Stephanie let out a weary laugh.

John leaned against a wall and beamed at her.

"Yeah, you too."

Hans took the wall opposite from them and watched them furtively.

Stephanie looked up and down at John. He was three times dirtier and bloodier than when she had met him in the elevator shaft.

"You smoke?" John asked Hans, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Yeah," Hans chuckled with fraud giddiness. John pulled out one for himself and then handed the pack to Hans, who pulled one out as well. John took out a silver, metallic lighter and lit his and Hans' cigarettes. Stephanie stood back to keep away from the disgusting fumes.

"You don't work for Nakatomi. And if you're not one of them –" Hans bounced on the balls of his feet to give him a less sinister look.

"I'm a cop from New York," replied John, puffing on his cancer stick.

Stephanie closed her eyes in remorse. It was very stupid of him to reveal that in front of Hans. Of course, Hans heard and his face grew a bit of its old seriousness back.

"New York?"

"Yeah. Got invited to the Christmas party by mistake. Who knew?" John noticed Hans was now looking down at his naked toes and he began to laugh. "It's better than getting caught with your pants down, huh?"

Both men continued to laugh while Stephanie watched them uncomfortably.

"I'm John McClane," John spoke after he calmed down.

_Stupid move number two_, Stephanie thought, _I hope he knows what he's doing._

Hans' fake smile turned into a thin line and his eyes grew wide. Here in front of him was the man causing him so much trouble.

"You're, uh…" John waited for Hans to give his name.

"Clay. Bill Clay." His smile returned, but it carried a more devilish flair.

"Know how to use a handgun, Bill?"

"I spent a weekend at a combat ranch. You know, the guns that shoot red paint? Probably seems kind of stupid to you," Hans lied.

"Nope. Time for the real thing, Bill," John said as he reloaded a pistol and handed it handle-first to Hans.

Stephanie violently shook her head in warning, but John either didn't see or ignored her. Hans gradually took the gun from John's hands and stared at it.

"Come on," John said as he passed Stephanie and Hans on his way towards the stairs. Hans stomped his cigarette out and took out the radio from his pocket. As he pointed his pistol to the back of John's head, he spoke in German into the bulky radio. Stephanie whimpered and stepped back. This was it. John had finally met his end.

"Put the gun down and give me my detonators," Hans ordered in his normal voice as John turned around.

"Well, well, well. Hans." John took one last puff on his cigarette and threw it to the ground.

"Put it down now," Hans repeated.

"That's pretty tricky with that accent. You ought to be on fucking TV with that accent." John stepped forward confidently. "What do you want with the detonators, Hans? I already used all the explosives, or did I?"

"I'm going to count to three –"

"Yeah. Like you did with Takagi?" John derided. Hans lost his patience and pulled hard on the trigger, but no gunshot came, just a tiny, feeble click.

"Oops," John mocked. "No bullets. What do you think – I'm fucking stupid Hans?"

Stephanie almost laughed in relief, but the elevator next to them let out a ding.

"You were saying?" Hans smirked.

Karl stepped out of the elevator, but John already began to fire at him with his machine gun. Karl darted behind a wall to block the bullets and John ran, yelling. Stephanie made a start to run after him, but Hans yanked her back.

"Stay back here if you don't want to get shot," he hissed and ran off after John, leaving her alone. Stephanie watched him disappear along with Fritz and Karl. He was right, but she couldn't just stand there. John was risking his life to save her and Stephanie didn't want to let him down. But her legs froze as she heard the roaring battle of machineguns and she dropped to the ground helplessly and covered her ears. She didn't know how many minutes passed before there was silence and a light tap on her shoulder. Her chest fluttered with joy and she looked up with delight, but it was not John that stood over her. It was Hans. Tears tore at her eyes and she hastily wiped them away.

"Did you kill him?" she whispered. Hans did not reply, he only stared at her and offered her his free hand. She noticed he had John's black bag in his other hand. Stephanie choked and new tears came streaming down her cheeks. She took Hans' hand, but did not dare look at him, and let him guide her to the elevator where Karl already stood.


	5. Chapter Five: Flaming Mess

**CHAPTER FIVE: FLAMING MESS**

The elevator door chimed and the trio stepped out onto the thirtieth floor. Hans tossed the black bag to a short Asian man that was watching over the terrorists.

"Go to work," Hans commanded strictly.

"You got it," the man replied in a squeaky voice and he marched off into the elevator. Hans steered Stephanie into the office before she could see the fearsome tantrum that Karl was pulling. Broken bottles littered the floor as the angry, blonde man smashed a nearby table with raging strikes.

Stephanie resumed her spot in her chair and bent over, silently sobbing into her hands. If John was dead then they were all doomed. There would be no one else to save them, not even the police for Hans and his crew were far too clever for them.

Hans' radio crackled and Theo's voice spoke out to him, but Stephanie did not stop to listen. She no longer cared about listening in on their plans. She just wanted to go home, climb into bed and never wake up.

"Hans, you better heat up that miracle because we just broke through on number six and the electromagnetic came down like a fucking anvil."

"Have a look at what our friends outside are doing and I'll be right up," Hans said in an even, convincing tone. He began to rummage through papers on top of his desk, stopped suddenly and turned his eyes onto Stephanie, whose shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. An urge to place a comforting hand on her back took over his mind for a quick second, but he shook the thought off.

"Come on." Hans lifted her gently by the elbow and piloted her back towards the elevator and then proceeded inside. As the door shut behind them, Stephanie walked from Hans' reach and turned her back on him. She pressed her forehead against the cool elevator wall and took in a deep breath to calm herself. Hans watched her at first, but drew his focus to the door. The elevator chimed again and the lustrous door slid open. Hans reached for Stephanie but she tugged from his touch and walked ahead into the vault room. Computers and machinery filled the middle of the room where some of Hans' men were. Nude concrete walls stared back at her, giving her a sense of emptiness and neglect.

"Nice of you to join us," Theo called out. He had lost his playfulness to concern, which greatly showed on his frowning face.

"Relax, Theo." Hans left Stephanie to do whatever while he talked things over with Theo.

"All right. Those are the city engineers," Theo said, pointing at a TV screen. Hans stood beside his black friend and stared at the screen. "They're going into the street circuits. Those guys in the suits, I don't know who they are."

"That's the FBI. They're ordering the others to cut the building's power. Regular as clockwork." Hans smirked over Theo's shoulder.

"Or a time lock." Theo's face erupted in a wide smile.

"Precisely. The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You asked for miracles, Theo. I give you the FBI." Every syllable that Hans spoke dripped with terrifying joy.

Stephanie strolled around the room, hoping to walk off her weariness. She felt eyes glance at her from time to time, but she ignored them. Abruptly, a moment of soundless darkness engulfed the room until the emergency backup lights came on.

"It's gonna go! It's gonna go!" Theo exclaimed over the high beeps that were being emitted from his computer. The large vault behind them slowly rumbled open as a buzzing alarm screamed at them. The faces of the thieves did not appear to be alarmed but eager. Once the door disappeared into the wall, a blinding white light shot out into the dark room. Hans and Theo drifted towards the opening with awe-struck faces.

"Merry Christmas," Theo whispered with the faintest voice. Theo skipped inside and immediately began flipping open grey, metal lids to many boxes that lay on many shelves. A man Stephanie did not recognise strolled inside and looked over at all the exquisite and exotic statues and figures. Stephanie did not have the slightest urge to enter the vault, but she was curious of what was inside. From the entrance she saw paintings, statuettes, and boxes containing piles of valuable papers, which an excitable Theo was currently searching through. Hans smiled broadly at his elevated friend and leaned against the vault wall.

"I wish to talk to the FBI," Hans spoke into his radio.

"This is Special Agent Johnson of the FBI. The State Department has arranged the return of your comrades. Helicopters are en route as you requested," the radio said in a polite, but solid voice.

"I hear you. We will be ready." Hans turned off his radio. "When they touch down, we'll blow the roof. By the time they figure out what went wrong, we'll be sitting on a beach earning 20%." Hans strode out of the glorious vault, passing by Stephanie.

"Hans, you can't do that! Do you know how many people will die?" Stephanie reached out quickly and grabbed the back of Hans' suit jacket. He stopped and turned his head to her.

"Exactly," he smirked. She let go in disgust. She saw that he was heading back towards the elevators and followed him in, quite unwilling to be left behind with a bunch of murderous strangers. The silence in the elevator was different from when they had first come. Instead of a lingering gloom, there was now a contemplating feel. Stephanie peeked over to see Hans staring hard at the door, looking as though he was struggling with a vicious debate within his head.

Once they made it back to Miss Gennero's office Hans sat at her desk and began to write in his notebook like he had before. Stephanie did not take a seat this time; she was too anxious and angry.

"They're coming!" Eddie shouted from outside the room. His sandy-blonde head poked inside the room from the doorway. "The choppers are coming."

"Okay. Miss Gennero, time to gather your flock." Hans stood up and made his way outside the door.

"What? What are you doing with them? You're not sending them to the roof, are you?" Fear struck Stephanie in the stomach like a cold punch. "Am I to go with them?" Before she could restrain her emotions, a terrified tear escaped her left eye and slithered down her colour-drawn face.

Hans' face appeared like it had in the elevator, torn between two decisions.

"No," he said finally. "No, you aren't."

"But what about them? You're sentencing them to death?" Stephanie tugged on Hans' arm, but he ignored her. None of the hostages were budging at his orders. He withdrew his slender pistol from inside his jacket and shot at the air, causing them to duck and shriek.

"Everyone to the roof!" he bellowed. "Lock them there. Come right back." The Asian man nodded and began to bully the hostages into moving up the stairs.

"You," Hans snatched Stephanie by the upper arm and forced her into the elevator. "You're coming with me."

Stephanie struggled against his hold. All her dad's old friends, all his old colleagues, they were going to die! They were the last remaining proof of him ever existing and the man behind her was going to destroy them.

"Let go! I have to help them!" Stephanie screamed as the elevator doors closed. Hans wrapped a firm arm around her chest and held her to him so she could barely move.

"No need to play hero," he muttered, but Stephanie wasn't listening.

"I have to! I have to go!" she continued, her voice now breaking and more tears leaked from her cerulean eyes. Her hands clutched Hans' arms to loosen his grip but he only held on tighter. Stephanie's attempts grew weaker and soon she altogether stopped and just let Hans hold her trembling body, even if he did not mean to put her at ease.

The elevator opened once more and Hans led her out into the open of the vault room, still not letting go of her.

"Why is she still here?" Theo asked, more out of curiosity than rudeness.

"Never mind that." Hans set Stephanie tenderly down on the stone flooring of the vault and then began to throw precious items into thick bags as quickly as he could. "Stick to your job."

Theo paced over to a black, knobby device that had a long antenna stick out the top of it. He pressed a button and it beeped noisily.

"Armed. The truck?" Theo asked Hans.

"The truck," Hans replied, not looking up from his task at hand.

Theo nodded and ran from the room. Stephanie wiped her eyes with the sweaty palms of her hands and remained silent. She had given up all hope. There was no way she could overthrow these men by herself.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she faintly whispered.

"There's something wrong!" Eddie shouted to Hans, who jerked his head up at this. "They're coming back down!"

"Blow the roof," Hans directed at the nameless man.

"But Karl's up there!" he argued back.

"Blow the roof!" Hans barked. The man did not move and Hans impatiently slammed his own hand onto a button on the black device. The building around them shook with the impact of the explosion about ten floors above them. Hans continued to empty the vault and started throwing full bags to his henchmen. Dust was now floating in the air and the walls grew orange with reflections of fire.

"Hans, it's not safe to be in this building much longer," coughed Stephanie. She held her hands over her nose and mouth to avoid breathing in the thick cloud of dust. Hans placed more bags onto a sort of trolley for Eddie to push. He yelled out to a man in German who then ran down the hallway with a pile of costly papers. A sickly snapping noise that sounded like bones being broken echoed through the hall and a strangled yell followed closely.

"Hans!" John limped slowly to them with his mighty machine gun in his hands.

Stephanie loudly gasped and stood up at the sight of him. He was covered thick in blood and from where she was standing, she could make out a bullet wound in his right shoulder and deep cuts on his worn face. Hans slipped out his gun and pressed it to Stephanie's head. He gripped her around the waist to keep her from running to John. Stephanie felt herself being forced to back away slowly.

"So that's what this is all about? A fucking robbery?" John cried out.

"Put down the gun," Hans spoke in a stable, harsh tone.

"Why'd you have to nuke the whole building Hans?" John kept pressing forward. Stephanie's breathing increased and she could feel the blood pump through her veins.

"Well, when you steal six hundred dollars, you can just disappear. When you steal six hundred million they'll find you unless they think you're already dead. Put down the gun," Hans repeated, this time more severely.

"Do it, John. Please just do it," Stephanie uttered franticly. She knew now it was better to just follow Hans' instructions to avoid more conflict. This would hopefully be all over soon, whether through death or them leaving. John stared at Stephanie, bewilderment etched on his blood-crusted face.

Eddie reached for his own gun, but John was too fast. He shot Eddie hard in the chest with multiple bullets. Hans' gun turned from Stephanie to John, but the ceiling between them fell down in a flaming heap, blocking their view of John.

"John!" Stephanie cried out, jumping forward from Hans' clutch.

"Stephanie? Are you all right?" John yelled back at her from behind the pile of blazing ceiling.

"I'm fine –" Stephanie managed to shout before Hans' thin hand clamped over her mouth. The fire had spread across the floor and was eating at the paper in the bags. Hans tried to recover them, but the fire was doing too much damage. He grunted before forcing Stephanie to run down another hall with him. They took a right and turned into an elevator.

"Theo! Be ready!" Hans shouted at his radio, but no one replied but the annoying sound of static.

Stephanie placed her hands on the elevator walls to steady herself. The earth was spinning around her and growing darker. She tilted backwards and was about to hit the hard floor, but Hans' quick hands caught her and hoisted her up off her feet. The elevator opened and he stepped out, roughly cradling Stephanie in his resolute arms.

"Theo!" he yelled into the empty underground parking lot, his voice shouting back at him in echoes. A red and white ambulance caught his eye and he speedily made his way towards it. In the window he saw Theo sprawled out unconscious in the driver's seat, but no one else was near. Hans walked briskly to the back, opened the two large doors with one hand and laid Stephanie on the carpeted floor. He sprinted back to the driver's window.

"Wake up, you twit!" Hans slapped the black man's cheek and he sprung up.

"What? What happened?" Theo mumbled, unaware of where he was.

"That doesn't matter! Just drive!" Hans hissed as he made his way back quickly to the rear of the ambulance.

"Right!" Theo flicked two switches above him and the ambulance's beaming lights and high-pitched siren turned on immediately. He turned the key in the ignition and the emergency vehicle's engine roared to life. With one last look behind them through the side-view mirror, Theo hit the gas pedal and they zoomed out of the underground parking lot and onto the barren street. As they came into public view, a nervous hitch got caught in Theo's throat, but the police seemed to only recognise them as an ambulance coming from a burning building with injured people.

Meanwhile in the back, Hans was trying to find a comfortable spot to sit. Unlike a normal ambulance, this one had no equipment. It was just a very large, empty trunk. A corner near the front of the trunk provided Hans with a somewhat snug place and he slowly sat down, his muscles sore from carrying Stephanie. Hans exhaled gravely and looked at the ceiling with fury. They had walked away with nothing. The only thing he had gained was the public knowledge that he was a dangerous "terrorist" and he had lost most of his men to that bastard, John McClane. Hans breathed in deeply to calm his burning nerves and his eyes fell upon the sleeping image of Stephanie. He watched her as her chest rose and descended delicately as she breathed, her fingers and eyebrows twitching at her dreams. What was he going to do now that he had kidnapped an orphaned teenage girl?


	6. Chapter Six: Road Trip

**CHAPTER SIX: ROAD TRIP**

Stephanie felt the soft floor beneath her bump up and down, causing her to hit her head on the carpeted floor of – wherever she was. She bolted upright, startled by her sudden changing of surroundings. She was encased in darkness and silence, which was very different from the Nakatomi building. Was she dead?

"You're awake now, are you?" a tired voice came from behind her. Stephanie whipped around to face Hans who was sitting only a few inches from where she was.

"Where are we?" Stephanie asked, a sick, twisting feeling swarming up in her gut.

"In the back of a moving ambulance, so you are unable to escape until we stop, if that's what you were going to think of next," he replied lazily. Stephanie lied back down and closed her eyes, too sick to care that Hans was so close to her. She began to shallow her breathing to calm her angry stomach.

She couldn't believe Hans had escaped John and the police. And why had he taken her with her? Was it for revenge?

"How long have we been on the road?" Stephanie asked after a few minutes of confused contemplation.

"An hour or two." Hans shifted uncomfortably in his own corner. Stephanie listened to his slow breathing, aware that he must have been dead tired.

"You know, you can sleep. I won't do anything," Stephanie spoke out to the darkness. A feeling of sympathy overwhelmed her, but she stubbornly ignored it.

"I'm afraid I cannot fall asleep in a moving vehicle," Hans replied, sounding as if he was only half lying.

"Suit yourself." Stephanie's sickness was beginning to die down with the growing conversation. Maybe if she continued speaking it would eventually disappear. "Who's driving?"

"Theo."

"Yo!" Theo called out from the front.

Stephanie waited for any other of Hans' henchmen to make themselves known, but no one else spoke.

"It's just us three now," Theo seemed to answer her thoughts. There was no hint of regret or sorrow in his voice, only fatigue. Stephanie opened her mouth to make some retort to Hans about John finishing off so many of his men, but felt it rather inappropriate and stopped herself. There was a quick jerk and the ambulance turned a sharp right. Hans sturdily caught himself before rolling across the ambulance, but Stephanie was not as lucky. A white-hot pain ran up her spine as she slammed excruciatingly into the trunk's side.

"Dammit!" Stephanie sputtered and grabbed at her back as the ride became smoother.

"Sorry!" Theo called back to her, but Stephanie heard the irritating chuckle in his voice.

"Are you all right?" Hans calmly asked. He stayed where he was and looked over at the wincing girl with what looked like an unconcerned eye. Stephanie tried to answer him but then thought against speaking; the turn had knocked the wind out of her. Her stomach abruptly churned and Stephanie sprung up.

"Theo, stop the car." Stephanie focused all her attention on the carpet to block out the ill feeling that was nagging at her throat.

"What? Are you crazy?" Theo yelled back.

"Unless you want to be breathing in the smell vomit for however long we're stuck in here, I suggest you stop!" Stephanie shouted angrily. The ambulance lurched as it came to a full stop and Stephanie kicked at the trunk door in panic, hastily jumped out and ran into a nearby wheat field.

"Do you think she'll run?" Theo poked his head into the trunk to keep a good view of her.

"No. We're in the middle of nowhere; she's not that dim." Hans looked away as Stephanie keeled over and quietly emptied her stomach. Theo's face contorted in disgust and he turned back to his Stephanie-free windshield.

Stephanie wiped her mouth with her hand and shakily stood back up. Her nerves felt more relaxed and the ache in her back died down. The sky was steadily growing darker and the air was cold and still; they seemed to be on a back road behind a farmer's field. Where exactly were they going?

"Are you done yet?" Hans' voice called impatiently to her.

"Yeah," Stephanie muttered inaudibly. With one last glance at the serene country, she carefully crawled back into the trunk before Hans swiftly closed the doors. She sat in the corner opposite of Hans' claimed spot and avoided the sight of him; it was quite embarrassing that she had just gotten sick in front of him.

"Let's go, Theo," Hans sighed and continued sitting rigidly.

The trip soon turned out to be more level than before and also a lot faster. Stephanie couldn't see outside, but she guessed by the declining bumpiness of the road that they were now reaching a more civilized area with paved roads.

"We're here," Theo sang childishly. He gently stopped the ambulance, turned off its rumbling engine and opened his door.

"Good." Hans fixed his ruffled clothing and smoothed out his hair. "Theo, you go book the room. Come back after you do."

Theo nodded obediently and slammed the door behind him.

"Where are we?" Stephanie tried to peer out of the windshield, but was unsuccessful.

"You ask too many questions for a hostage," Hans hissed as he rubbed his forehead wearily.

"Shouldn't hostages be gagged, tied up and not be able to run off into fields?"

"We could easily do all those things if you'd like." Hans turned his dangerous, brown eyes onto her. Hans and his henchmen hadn't really harmed her in any way, so Stephanie hadn't really thought of herself as a hostage. But when the man before her looked at her like that, she felt like she could die that second.

"So what now? We sit here in the awkward silence you have just created and wait for your lackey to come back?" Stephanie snapped back at him. Her best defence in threatening situations would always be sarcasm. Never let them know your fear.

"Yes, that is the idea, if you'd just shut up." Hans' stare remained the same, sharp and tormenting.

"Well, wouldn't it be nice if you got what you wanted. Unfortunately, you didn't even get all the crap you planned to rob us of, even though it was _right in your hands_," Stephanie sneered mockingly. Hans' large hand reached out and grabbed her by her ruined dress. He pulled her so close to his face, she was sure he was going to kiss her.

"Listen, Miss Bowers, I would watch that tongue of yours. You seem to forget who has the gun here. Last time I checked, it was me and not you," Hans hissed furiously. Stephanie could hear the murder on his breath. He held her there for a few moments, daring her to make a sound, and then finally released her. She sat back silently and held her breath. She feared that even the smallest thing would set him off again.

The trunk doors opened and Theo's form appeared once again.

"Okay, we're all set – Did I just walk in on something?" Theo looked from Hans' threatening face to Stephanie's timid one.

"No. What is the room number?" Hans turned to Theo.

"Uh, 119."

"Take Miss Bowers and I'll meet you there." Hans grabbed Stephanie's arm and thrust her uncaringly at Theo.

"Okay." Theo hesitantly helped Stephanie out of the ambulance.

"What the hell?" Stephanie whispered to herself. A small and cheap motel was staring back at her. A pink, neon sign flashed "Mister Mike's: Vacancy."

"There's probably a reason why there's vacancy." Stephanie examined its ugly appearance.

"That's good for us. Hans' face is probably plastered all over the television by now. The last thing we need right now is to be caught in a large crowd," Theo told her as they made their way to the front doors of the homely building.

"Maybe good for you two," Stephanie scoffed.

"I suggest you get use to 'us two'. Hans is very particular about this kind of thing and it's not that easy to get out of his sight."

The automatic doors slid open for them, exposing an even uglier interior. Red and pink argyle carpet was stapled to the floor and the walls were peeling with yellow wallpaper.

"Oh good, so he's kidnapped before, has he?" Stephanie raised a brow derisively at a tall cactus beside the sign-in desk.

"Well, no. I meant his plans."

"Right, because the last one went _so_ well."

Theo threw an agitated look at her and directed her down a hall that most likely lead to their room.

"115… 117…" Theo read the door numbers aloud. "Ah, 119." He reached for the copper doorknob, but the thin door opened and a woman in a stained, white apron stepped out.

"Oh hello. I just finished getting your room ready for you two."

"Two?" Stephanie asked her and the woman winked.

"Oh, no no no. It's not like that. See, she's my –" Theo began.

"Niece. I'm his niece." Stephanie smiled pleasantly. She expected the cleaning lady to easily dismiss her excuse, but she noticed that her eyes were focused on Stephanie's bloodstained dress.

"Oh, this? Ha, I had a _very_ bad nosebleed."

"Yes, it was terrible. Blood _everywhere_," Theo continued, but Stephanie nudged him in the ribs to stop. The lady nodded to them with an obvious fake smile and hurriedly left them. Stephanie looked at Theo to see if this lady had worried him, but he animatedly shrugged at her and walked into their room.

Stephanie stopped herself.

There were people, right by the entrance. She could easily sneak away from Theo and alert them, tell them that two murderous thieves were actually kidnapping her. They could call the police and she'd be free. She could end it all right now.

Theo was surveying the two grungy-looking beds; he wasn't paying any attention to Stephanie at all. She turned slightly to the open, tempting hallway. She could run – scream – and they'd save her; Stephanie would finally be able to go home.

_But_, Stephanie thought, _home to what?_ If she travelled all the way back home to L.A., what would be awaiting her? She had no family, no friends, only haunting memories of two dead parents and a horrible night. Stephanie looked down at her clenched fists. She could feel her nails digging into her palms, but strangely, she did not feel any pain. Stephanie turned back to room 119 and stepped inside.

"What's the room like?" she called out.

"It's disgusting, but it will do. Close the door." Theo was already making himself comfortable.

The room really was disgusting. Two yellow-green beds were placed against an off-white and chipped wall, a dusty wooden cabinet held a minute television and a beige couch, which Theo had placed himself carelessly on, took the wall opposite to the beds. But none of this was as bad as the revolting, burgundy carpet underneath their feet. Some parts were stained with strange colours; Stephanie did not want to know what had originally spilled there.

A sharp tapping interrupted Stephanie's examination and she looked up to see Hans at the unnoticed glass doors in front of her.

"Coming!" Theo sprung from his place and rushed to the door. With a simple flick of the rusty latch, the glass door slid open and Hans swiftly darted inside.

"Did anyone see you?" Theo closed the door behind him and peered into the dark night.

"No, I don't believe so," Hans replied. His eyes flickered over the room in reluctance, but he seemed to accept that they had no other choice. "All right, Theo and Bowers, you take the beds. I'll use the couch."

Stephanie observed Hans as he untied his tie and discarded his coat. He had immense bags under his eyes and his eyelids were drooping severely. She could tell he was worse than tired.

"No, it's all right. I'll sleep on the couch." Stephanie plopped herself on the couch before either of them could object. Hans opened his mouth slightly, but closed it immediately. He suspiciously scanned over her with a raised brow, but then finally nodded.

"If that's what you want," Hans spoke to her indifferently and turned to claim a bed.

Stephanie smiled slightly, but returned her attention to the couch. She would be awfully cold if she only had a thin dress covering her throughout the night. Stephanie gazed around the room and spotted a closet near the door through which they entered. She stood up and carefully walked over to it, trying not to make it seem like she was sneaking off. She opened the wooden closet door with a loud and irritating creak. A wide shelf was perched at the top and held an assortment of things such as pillows, towels and blankets. Stephanie painfully stood on the very tips of her toes to reach them, and once she got a grip of a fluffy, moss-green blanket, she edgily pulled it down. She must have looked silly, having to be on her toes to reach the blanket.

Stephanie flipped off a light switch, made her way back to her ugly couch, lied down on her back and spread the blanket over herself. Shivers crawled over her skin and she tried to not think of all the people that could have used this blanket, or even this couch. Stephanie looked across the room and saw that both Hans and Theo had clambered into their beds and made themselves comfortable.

Hans' face did not look so serious and fearsome when he was fatigued. His eyelids were closed over his intense eyes, and his soft-looking lips were slightly parted to permit breath…

Hans opened his eyes and met Stephanie's stare.

A wave of heat spread across her face and she hastily flipped onto her side with her back facing him. Stephanie couldn't believe she had been staring at Hans! And worse, she was caught doing it! She squeezed her eyes shut and burrowed her face into the couch's cushy back. Stephanie could feel Hans's eyes on the back of her head and she prayed that he would fall asleep soon.

"Merry Christmas," Theo quietly spoke out to the room. The silence left behind it felt sad and heavy, almost unbearable.

"Merry Christmas, Theo," Stephanie whispered.


	7. Chapter Seven: Other Intentions?

**CHAPTER SEVEN: OTHER INTENTIONS?**

Stephanie felt a cold chill come over her as his smooth hands slid over her bare neck and collar bone. She bit her lip to keep a gasp from escaping her small mouth. He saw her lustful expression and her suffering; he smiled his terrible and wicked smile. He had won.

Stephanie awoke from her nightmare with a jerk. Sweat covered her from head to toe and her limp body was madly shuddering with shock. She didn't remember what she had been dreaming about, but she could still feel malevolent hands all over her body.

Stephanie rubbed her tired eyes and peeked at the two beds across the room, both of which still held two sleeping lumps. The light was not bright, but she could see clear enough; it must have been early morning. She did not want to wake her captors, but she did not want to sit there patiently and wait for them to finally stir.

Stephanie examined the room once again with little interest. A new door adjacent to the supply closet caught her attention. Curiously, Stephanie stood from her couch and began her journey slowly towards it. Hopefully it was a bathroom, which she had not had the chance to use since her little adventure at the Nakatomi building. She turned the grubby, brass doorknob and cautiously opened the door. The room behind it was pitch-black and Stephanie groped the walls in search of a light switch. After a few moments of blindly stubbing her toes on walls, she found the stupid thing and flicked it on. White light lit up the small room and revealed a porcelain sink, a mirror, a toilet and a shower within a glass enclosure

"Thank God," Stephanie whispered to herself happily. A quick shower wouldn't hurt anyone. Checking to see if Hans and Theo were still sleeping deeply, Stephanie shut the door behind her and slid out of her disgusting dress.

The shower wasn't difficult to work; to the left of the handle made the water hot and to the right made it cold. She adjusted the water to a comfortable temperature and she hopped inside the glass box. The water immediately made all her muscles relax and her mind unwound into a stream of peaceful thoughts. The terror of last night seemed completely unreal. She ran her hands over her frail body, wiping away grimy dirt and sweat. In this world, where soothing water healed everything, there was no hostage situation, there was no pain and there was no Hans Gruber.

"Miss Bowers!" a voice called to her from behind the bathroom door and urgent knocks closely followed. Stephanie abruptly snapped out of her half-trance.

"U-uh, yes?" Stephanie answered.

"Are you taking a shower?"

Stephanie recognized the voice to be Hans'.

"No, I'm secretly planning how to escape you and this nasty motel room," Stephanie replied sarcastically.

"I'm coming in."

"No! You can't! I was joking!" She could hear the door knob turning and she covered her exposed body in panic. "I'm naked!"

"I'm only coming in to make sure you are actually doing what you claim to be doing and not holding any weapons or such." Through the fogged up glass Stephanie could see the door open and close. She waited for Hans to speak, praying to God that the fog hid her body.

"Can you step out for a minute?" he asked calmly.

"Are you serious?" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Yes, quite."

Stephanie stood there, resuming her sickly shaking, before turning off the water. She could see his dark silhouette through the glazed glass. This would be over soon; she just had to show him she had no bad intentions. Stephanie opened the shower door slightly and thrust her empty, wet hands out to Hans.

"Happy now?"

"No, that won't do. Come out fully." His eyes were as piercing as the night before and Stephanie wished more than anything to disappear that very second.

"Alright. Hand me a towel," Stephanie sighed weakly. Hans looked around the bathroom in search of one.

"You didn't bring one in."

"Really?" Stephanie scanned the bathroom herself, not believing she could have been so dumb.

"Hurry up and come out," Hans spoke in his usual impatient tone. He noticed her apprehensive look and he furrowed his brows. "I'm not going to take pleasure in seeing your childish body, so you don't have to worry about that."

Stephanie, feeling greatly insulted, let out an agitated sigh and obeyed. She emerged from the shower with a deathly pace, covering her breasts with one hand and her crotch with the other.

Stephanie did not look at Hans' face and wished he would hurry up with his search. A strange feeling came over her and goose bumps crawled over her skin; it was if she could feel Hans' eyes on her body. She reluctantly sneaked a peek at him to see if he had finished. To her bewilderment, she saw Hans observing every inch of her, his cheeks flushed with crimson. She quickly dismissed the sight, reasoning that it was the heat and humidity of the room getting to him.

"Finished yet?"

"Turn around."

Stephanie's heart stopped.

"What?"

"Turn around." Hans' serious eyes flickered back to her own.

Stephanie's breath hitched, but she followed his orders. She warily removed her hands from their previous positions to cover her backside as she turned.

Stephanie thought that it would be better if she could not see Hans examine her, but she was wrong. It was much worse. She could not see where his eyes were placed or what he was doing behind her back. She bit her lip in anxiousness, her heart knocking at her ribs.

"Alright. I'm done now," Hans said. Hearing his voice so close from behind her gave her the weirdest sensation, like a fleeting feeling in her chest. With no hesitation whatsoever, Stephanie reclaimed the secure cover of the shower. The bathroom was slowly losing its warmth, but Stephanie waited until she heard Hans leave the room before she turned the comforting water back on.

* * *

Once Stephanie had finished cleaning and grooming herself, she carefully stuck her head out of the bathroom door and peeked around at the room. She spotted Hans sitting on the couch which she had come to hate after one night of painfully sleeping on its rock-hard cushions. He seemed to be intently reading the morning's paper.

"Where's Theo?" Stephanie curiously called out from the bathroom.

"Seeing as how I can't be seen in the American public for now, he has volunteered to fetch us some breakfast," Hans answered her, but he did not look up from his reading material.

"Oh." Stephanie waited a few seconds as she tried to plan out how she would get herself a towel without exposing her nakedness, but she quickly gave up.

"Would you be so kind as to grab me a towel, please?" Stephanie asked Hans politely.

"I must kindly decline," Hans replied mockingly at her attempt at good manners. "Why don't you get it yourself?"

"What? And expose myself again? I bet you'd like that, you pervert," replied Stephanie. "I've exposed enough flesh to you for a lifetime, thank you very much."

Hans glared at her and then set aside his newspaper. As he approached the supply closet directly across from her, she shrunk back into the security of the bathroom.

"Here." He thrust a pumpkin-orange towel at her with his eyes focused on the wall beside her.

"Thank you." She quickly snatched the towel from his grasp and shut the bathroom door.

Stephanie tightly wrapped the oddly-coloured towel around her midsection and turned to the mirror above the sink. With a swift swipe, she wiped the fog off the mirror and inspected her reflection. She noticed that some colour had come back to her skin now that she was not under the stress she had been under the previous day. Stephanie pinched at her cheeks and arms.

"Am I getting a little chubby?" Stephanie muttered to herself. She laughed at this trivial suspicion. It felt so nice to feel like a normal teenage girl, at least if for this moment.

"Hey! Stephanie!" Theo yelled out from behind the door.

"Can't I get some time to myself?" Stephanie muttered and unwillingly opened the door fully.

"I found these at the gift store here," Theo spoke lightly, shoving some clothing into her hands. It seems that the troubles of yesterday had been wiped away by a night's good sleep for Theo.

"Thank you. That's so nice of you," Stephanie spoke, feeling sincerely grateful.

"What are you talking about? We can't have you walking around in a blood-stained, ripped dress; that will look suspicious," Theo said matter-of-factly. "I also got you these." He handed her more things. Stephanie carefully looked at the objects in her hands: a brush, a toothbrush, toothpaste, two different shades of pink lip gloss, and a thin book.

"Lip gloss and a book? I really am growing on you, aren't I?" Stephanie reached up and pinched his cheek playfully.

Theo swatted at her hand (while trying to hide something that looked similar to a smile) and left her to change. The clothes he had bought her weren't actually that bad. She pulled on a plain, white bra (Theo had somehow gotten a size very close to her own), an aqua-blue tank top, a nicely-fitting pair of blue jeans and a pair of white running shoes.

"Oh, good. If I need to run away again then I'll have the proper footwear this time," Stephanie remarked.

She grabbed her new brush and emerged from the steamy bathroom. Hans was still reading the paper with a paper cup of coffee in his hand and Theo was nibbling on a donut while staring out the glass doors.

"No need to seem so somber, boys. It is Christmas Day after all." Stephanie sat down on the edge of Hans' bed and began to brush her drying hair.

"I was going to buy myself a new computer for Christmas with that money," Theo spoke absent-mindedly.

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Come on, it's not the end of the world," Stephanie replied, trying to raise the mood of the room.

"You aren't the one that risked your life and reputation to try and steal billions of dollars worth of stuff, and then walked away with less than what you came with," Theo said moodily, turning to look at her.

"No, I'm just the silly orphan girl that was put at gunpoint repeatedly on _Christmas Eve_, and then kidnap by two moping idiots," Stephanie retorted.

Theo turned back to the glass doors without another word and Hans continued to read as though she didn't exist.

Stephanie grabbed a donut from beside Theo, picked up her new book and slid open the glass doors.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hans asked, finally looking up from his paper.

"Out. Don't worry; you will be able to keep an eye on me from here." Stephanie closed the doors irritably and marched across the parking lot to a tree that grew in the middle of the motel lawn.

What jerks! They were miserable because their heist hadn't worked out. What about her? She was stuck with two greedy men who were on the run from the police. Because of them, she would probably be scarred for the rest of her life. But come to think of it, she didn't feel that damaged from last night. It actually felt like it had all just been a vivid nightmare.

Stephanie plopped down in front of the lofty tree and stared at her book. On the cover was a huge, hot-pink heart with black, curvy writing on it saying, "_The Key to Lisa's Heart_". What the hell? She flipped the book over and read the short summary on the back.

"'Lisa is not your normal girl; she has never experienced an emotion remotely close to romantic love. But one day she comes across Californian-hottie Brad while shopping at a surfer shop. Will he have what it takes to unlock Lisa's cold, dispassionate heart?'

Ew. Why the hell would anyone read this?" Stephanie almost threw the book away from her. Stephanie gazed up at the sky and took a bite out of the chocolate-glazed donut.

_I wonder what Mom and Dad would think about all of this?_ Stephanie thought. Surely her father would be impressed with Hans' intelligence and class, but even more furious with him for killing Mr. Takagi and trying to rob the Nakatomi vault.

"Didn't like the book, huh?"

Stephanie turned to see Theo walking towards her from the parking lot.

"Did you even try to read the summary?" Stephanie asked with an appalled expression on her face.

"Of course I did. I thought girls like that stuff."

"Maybe if their heads are filled with nothing but air and estrogen," Stephanie sneered.

"My apologies then." Theo sat down a fair distance away from Stephanie and crossed his legs. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence and Stephanie felt the need to say something – anything.

"You know, there are _legal_ ways of getting money."

Theo looked at her; his playful smirk back on his face.

"Yes, but _stealing_ is way easier," he replied as if it were common sense.

"But it's bad." Stephanie raised an eyebrow at him.

"What, and you've never done anything bad before?" Theo challenged her.

Stephanie searched her brain, looking back into her domestic past, trying to find any disobedience towards her parents.

"Not that I can remember. There wasn't really a reason to go against my parents, or the law for that matter," Stephanie said, sitting back in her victory.

"Really?" Theo looked at her in cocky disbelief.

"Really. I had an exceptional upbringing and I have no brutish similarities with you or that hot-headed German."

"Ouch." Theo laughed. "You know, he's not as bad as he seems. You'll see."

"I severely doubt that. He's arrogant, bossy, cold-hearted, and unsympathetic," Stephanie spoke with slight frustration.

"Unsympathetic? Why do you think you're even here?" Theo leaned forward, almost seeming offended at her opinion of his boss.

Stephanie stared at him with a puzzled look spread on her face.

"He didn't send you to the roof with the rest of those idiots, did he? He kept you by his side," Theo stated firmly.

"Yeah, but probably because I would have caused even more trouble," Stephanie debated back.

"No. I think it was something else." Theo turned from her to the empty parking lot. His lips were pursed as though he was trying to figure something out.

Theo had a good point. If she had gone with the other hostages she would not have been any use to anyone. She would have been as stuck and as desperate as the others. Stephanie thought back to the way Hans looked in the elevator and when she had asked if he was sending her to death with the others. His face then was not pompous or frightening. He did not look calm either. He looked as if a battle was engaging in his mind, as if he were trying to make a difficult decision. Had he really thought about her well-being?

"Anyways, Hans wants you to come back to the room. He has a few things he wants to cover." Theo's face returned to normal and he stood back up.

"Yeah, okay." Stephanie obeyed peacefully and followed Theo back to their glass doors, still pondering what had gone on inside Hans' head in the Nakatomi building elevator.


	8. Chapter Eight: Unanswered Questions

**CHAPTER EIGHT: UNANSWERED QUESTIONS**

As Theo and Stephanie re-entered their current living arrangement, Hans set aside a black, chunky cell phone, looking a bit more content than he had moments before.

"I just finished talking with Simon. He said that he's already made his way into America, but it will take him another day to get to this cesspool. Until then, all we can do is wait." Hans spoke to only Theo at first, but then his too familiar stare turned to Stephanie. "There are a few new rules I'd like to affirm, Miss Bowers, since you do not know the ways of being a perfect hostage. When Simon gets here, there will be no back-talking, going anywhere without permission or supervision and if there is any misbehaviour, I will not be as forgiving. I will not have you make me look bad."

"You're really cracking the whip now," Stephanie derided. She wanted to appear unthreatened, but she could not help but feel insecure. Another man was coming? There was no doubt that he too was a criminal or else Hans would not have trusted him to find him. She did not need another fearsome man watching and controlling her every move.

Theo nodded, looking happy to have a way out of the sickening motel room, and he returned to attacking the rest of the donuts. Stephanie rubbed her eyes. She was still drowsy because of last night's lousy sleep, but she could not go back to lying on the beige couch; Hans had made it clear that that would be where he would spend his time when he was awake. Looking around the room, she knew that there was no other place to take a nap other than on the two beds, and for some reason Stephanie felt easier about sleeping on Hans' bed than Theo's. It could have been because although they had just met and they always fought, Hans had become closer to her than anyone else at this time. He had seen her cry, he had held her, and he had even seen her naked. But more than that, he had let her live.

Stephanie groggily made her way over to Hans' bed and plopped herself on it. Surprisingly, the bed was not hard at all, unlike the evil couch she had to endure, but rather comfortable and the sheets underneath her were soft and warm as if they were there to comfort her. She wrapped an arm around the pillow above her head and she hugged it to her chest tenderly. If her captors were not in the room with her, she might have thought that this was heaven. A delightful scent drifted into her lungs and her head dreamily swam in it. What was this smell? Cologne? No, this must have been what Hans smelt like.

A light chuckle flew to Stephanie's ears and she looked to the opposite side of the room. Hans was watching her, chortling at how silly she looked clutching at his pillow. Stephanie loosened her grip on it a bit, but she nestled her face into it to hide her embarrassment. Hans' scent made her feel dizzy and she quickly fell into a deep slumber.

It came again; the dream of ravaging hands and nasty smiles, although this time the hands were softer and gentler than the last nightmare. She tried to pull away to get a good look at her molester, but his grip was too firm and she was too weak. She felt his mouth crawl along her neck and his breath lick at her skin. She had felt this breath before, but where? Why did it feel familiar, and why did it put her so much at ease?

"Bowers," a voice echoed to her from a distance.

_That voice_...

"Bowers! Wake up!"

Stephanie started and shot open her eyes. Hans was standing over her.

"Finally. You sleep like the dead." He held a mild smile on his face, but his eyes were piercing and curious.

"Why'd you wake me up?" Stephanie sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her skin felt damp with sweat.

"Well, at first you were moaning in your sleep. And then you began to shake." Hans sat himself down on the edge of the bed, not removing his intense gaze.

"Aw, were you worried about me?" Stephanie teased lightly.

"Not at all. I can't bloody read when there's noise," Hans retorted.

Stephanie looked at him as if she did not believe him, but she felt her spirits droop.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't know," Stephanie half-lied. "It's more of a nightmare, anyway."

"Obviously." Hans gestured to the ruffled sheets on his bed.

Stephanie gasped.

"I'm so sorry. I'll make those up right now." Stephanie was amazed at the mess she had created, just because of a stupid dream.

"I can easily do that later," Hans spoke, his stare growing softer. Stephanie looked back at him. _Why are you so contradicting, Hans? One minute you threaten to kill me, the next you want to clean up after me._ That reminded her; she still had to ask something that was a mystery to her.

"Why did you save my life?" Stephanie asked quietly. She felt her pulse quicken with anticipation.

Hans leaned back a little, surprised by such a question.

"I didn't."

"Don't lie," Stephanie hissed. "Why didn't you send me to the roof with the others?"

Hans did not reply; he only shifted his eyes.

"Why am I here?" Stephanie's voice grew louder with eagerness. Why would he not tell her?

"I don't know why. It was just an impulse at the time." He looked back at her. His eyes were searing with irritation, as if he was cornered. His glare challenged her to ask another question.

Stephanie frowned at him. It infuriated her that she could never get an honest answer from this man.

"Whatever." Stephanie grabbed the pillow and shoved it in front of her, creating somewhat of a barrier between her and Hans. Hans broke eye contact and silently went back over to the couch to continue his reading. It was not until then that she realized Theo was absent.

_Probably off to get more food_, she thought to herself. She did not feel like asking Hans. She did not even care if they never spoke again. Stephanie flopped back onto the bed and turned her back to Hans.

An hour passed before Theo returned.

"Where have you been?" Hans barked at him. "It does not take that long to get food, especially at an empty place like this."

"But they have an arcade here!" Theo set a large, full paper bag down on his bed. "It's awesome!"

"That's cool," Stephanie mumbled. She stared at the bare wall beside Hans' bed.

"What's up with you?" Theo asked, detecting Stephanie's foul mood.

"Nothing. I'm peachy," she huffed.

"I brought back some food," Theo offered, pulling out some packaged snacks. Stephanie looked over her shoulder at the food in his hands.

"I can't live off donuts and Twinkies."

"Well, it's not like we can afford to eat at a fancy restaurant," Theo snapped back at her. "And there aren't any grocery stores near here."

"Fine." Stephanie gave in. Her stomach was beginning to rumble, and fake food was better than no food. Stephanie slipped off the bed and accepted the snacks that Theo handed over to her.

"Hans, you should eat something too. All you've had is coffee," Theo said, watching to see if Hans would acknowledge the paper bag of goodies.

"No, thank you. I'm afraid my appetite is quite ruined," Hans dully replied, newspaper still in hand.

"How so?" Theo raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Are there good games in the arcade?" Stephanie asked Theo. She was in desperate need of a change of topic.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so." Theo eyeballed Stephanie and looked back to Hans. A smile spread over his face. "Ah, I see. Did you two have another lovers' quarrel?"

"It is not a lover's quarrel!" Stephanie exclaimed defensively.

"You must be insane to think that I could be in such a relationship with that_ girl_." Hans glared at Theo.

"Love is love," Theo spoke to the both of them. He was just making a joke to lighten the circumstances, but the two of them were taking it a little too seriously. He was sure of this when he was hit in the face with a pillow that Stephanie had thrown.

"Drop it." Stephanie turned back to the snacks she was handed and Theo did the same after fully realizing the sensitivity of the subject.

A thick silence hung above them. Unnerved by it, Stephanie sneaked a peek at Hans. He was still reading the paper with nothing more than a slightly furrowed brow. Stephanie sighed. She could not imagine having another Hans around. She would probably kill herself, or worse – try and escape.


	9. Chapter Nine: The Morning After

**CHAPTER NINE**

Stephanie slowly stirred from her slumber. After a few drowsy blinks, she was able to open her eyes and not see a blurry view. She did not know when she had fallen asleep; she did not even realize she had dozed off. Stephanie stretched out her limbs and felt a soft surface beneath her – she was definitely not on the motel's couch. She looked around, squinting in the daylight, and discovered that she was still on Hans' bed. Her movement ceased and she slowly turned her head, half-expecting to find a sleeping Hans next to her, but the space beside her was vacant. A relieved sigh flittered through her mouth and she continued to inspect the room. Just like the morning before, Theo was still asleep, but Hans was surprisingly already awake. He lay on the couch, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Despite feeling bad that she had stolen his bed, Stephanie felt a giggle build in her throat. Hans looked extremely awkward on the hard couch.

"Good morning," Stephanie whispered to him.

His head turned to her and for a few seconds he said nothing, as if he was searching for words to say.

"Good morning," he finally mumbled back.

"How'd you sleep?" Stephanie held back a chuckle. "You look very cozy."

Hans groaned and flipped onto his side.

"That well, huh?" Stephanie smiled cordially. "Your back must be sore. You can take back your bed."

"No, it's fine. Another few minutes on this bloody thing won't kill me," Hans muttered quietly.

Stephanie stared at the man that was supposedly her captor. Two days ago he had killed Mr. Takagi and she had hated him for it, but now things were different. She had chosen to stay with Hans and Theo, even though she knew it was a stupid thing to do. The truth was they started to treat her more like a person than a hostage once they got out of the Nakatomi building. However, she knew not to let her guard down. They were capable of murder and thievery; they could easily turn on her the moment she started to hold them back.

"Hans, can I ask a question?" Stephanie carefully asked, not wanting another fight like yesterday.

"If you must," he sighed.

"Where are we going from here?"

Hans perched himself up on one arm as to get a better look at Stephanie.

"You really do ask too many questions," Hans replied. Stephanie waited for him to snap something at her or to at least give one of his infamous glares, but he did neither of these. He actually answered her honestly.

"Germany."

"What?" Stephanie exclaimed before covering her mouth. Theo shifted groggily in his bed, but did not wake up. "We're going to _Germany_?"

"No, Theo and I are going to Germany. You are being _kidnapped_ to Germany."

"But that's so far from here! Don't you think it'd be safer to go to somewhere a little closer?"

"It might be safer for you, but you forget that Germany is my homeland. Besides, the farther we are from this country the better."

"Aren't you known as a threat internationally, though." Stephanie frowned. She did not understand Hans' logic.

"Yes, but that is why we are going to a rural part of Germany," Hans spoke slowly, as if Stephanie was a small child.

"I'm not stupid," Stephanie huffed. "I was just confused."

"It doesn't matter. You're still merely a hostage." Hans rolled back onto his back, this time closing his eyes. "Now, no more questions."

Stephanie continued to watch him, attempting to soak in this new alarming information. It seemed that her list of problems just kept growing as each day passed by.


	10. Update: Hello, everyone!

Hello, everybody!

Oh my goodness, it's been a while. I hope you all have been well and aren't too mad at me for not updating the story. I was planning on giving it up, but I watched Die Hard again last night and I think I might give it another go.

I'm wondering how many people are still interested in the story. Please let me know!

Also, you can follow me on twitter at smbue.

Thanks guys and happy holidays!

Stephanie M. Bueckert


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